Two Options
When SWAT officers working Crime Suppression discover an elderly couple gunned down in their own home, Major Crimes must team up with the LAPD's Special Operations Bureau to hunt down a killer stalking the city of Los Angeles, and taking hostages along the way. The Victim *JB Collier **Father of Paul Collier. **Sent his son to prison for embezzlement. **Living under the alias of JB Lanier. **Shot twice in the head execution style by Paul in revenge. *Sandra Collier **Mother of Paul Collier. **Sent her son to prison for embezzlement. **Living under the alias of Sandra Lanier. **Shot twice in the head execution style by Paul in revenge. *Linda Collier **Ex-wife of Paul Collier. **Kidnapped and held hostage by Paul. **Is stated to need surgery after her rescue, but is expected to recover. *Henry Collier **Nickname Hank. **Son of Paul Collier. **Nine years old. **Kidnapped by his father but rescued unharmed. *Mandy Collier **Nickname Ziggy. **Daughter of Paul Collier. **Seven years old. **Kidnapped by her father but rescued unharmed. *William Christopher Jackson **Goes by Chris Jackson. **Commodities broker for DLA Capital. **Drives a BMW. **Fiancé of Linda Collier. **Shot in the chest and head by Paul Collier. **Body found in his car trunk across the street from Jared Temple's apartment building. *Detective Julio Sanchez **Shot during a struggle with Jared Temple. **Only suffered a superficial wound. *SWAT Officer Chad Stuart **Shot by Paul Collier during the rescue. **Survives unharmed due to his body armor. The Suspects *Linda Collier **Daughter-in-law of JB and Sandra. **Briefly suspected before being discovered as a victim instead. *William Christopher Jackson **Linda's fiancé. **Suspected before he was found murdered in the trunk of his car. *Paul Collier **Son of JB and Sandra, ex-husband of Linda and father to Henry and Mandy. **Served six years in prison for embezzling from the family business. **His parents testified against him. **Released two weeks before the kidnapping and murders. **His family entered Witness Protection after his arrest. **Murdered his parents and his wife's new fiancé while kidnapping his wife and kids to get revenge. **Implied by Doctor Joe Bowman to have potentially been on a suicide mission due to his apparent lack of an escape plan. *Jared Temple **Former cellmate of Paul Collier and his accomplice. **Served ten years in prison for meth possession and armed robbery and was recently released. **Owns the car used in the kidnapping and murders. **His apartment is directly across the street from where William Christopher Jackson's body was found and acts as a hideout. **Slightly wounds Julio Sanchez during a fight. Evidence Closing the Case After spotting a neighbor pulling up, Detective Julio Sanchez and Officer Jamey Perez interview her. The neighbor tells the two that she had seen the Lanier's that morning when Sandra asked her to pick up some sugar-free cookies at the grocery store a couple of hours before. When asked about why the Lanier's would keep their cat locked up in a bedroom, the neighbor explains that the cat has a habit of running away and is often hard to catch. As the interview continues, the neighbor mentions that the Lanier's grandchildren are expected. When asked when the grandchildren are expected to arrive, the neighbor states that they had arrived that morning with their mother Linda, the Lanier's daughter-in-law who they had followed to Los Angeles following the death of their son of a brain tumor. According to the neighbor, Linda or her fiancé drop the kids off on their way to work during the summer. The neighbor knows nothing about the fiancé, but is able to provide information on the grandchildren, Henry and Mandy. As the Lanier's bodies are wheeled out of their house, the neighbor faints and Julio alerts everyone that they have a double Critical Missing with the disappearance of the children. Later, Julio Captain Sharon Raydor, Buzz Watson, Lieutenant Provenza, Lieutenant Tao, Special Agent Fritz Howard, Assistant Chief Taylor and Commander Ann McGinnis watch a video recorded by JB of his grandchildren that morning with the neighbor confirming that in the video, the children are wearing the clothes she had seen them in that morning. McGinnis reports that she has had SOB looking for the mother, but she left work for lunch twenty-five minutes earlier, there is no one at her residence and her cell phone is completely off the grid. The fact that Linda has a fiancé is also something that McGinnis finds worrying. The meeting is interrupted by Deputy City Attorney Gloria Lim who expresses worry about liability issues due to Julio and Provenza's recent actions and suggests letting SWAT handle the investigation instead of Major Crimes, but is rejected due to the fact that SWAT is not an investigative unit. Fritz reveals that the FBI is having a surprisingly hard time finding background on the Lanier's and Buzz promises to send the FBI photos from JB's phone. Furthermore, the phone has pictures of Linda and a man that is presumably her fiancé, however he is still unidentified. Fritz promises to have the FBI run a facial recognition program on the fiancé in hopes of identifying the man. An annoyed Gloria suggests simply calling Linda and asking her where she is and the name of her fiancé and demands to know if they are treating Linda as a suspect as well since they were checking out local sex offenders. An annoyed McGinnis explains that there was no sign of forced entry at the Lanier's house and both were shot in the head at close-range. This means that while sex offenders can't be ruled out, the Lanier's were likely murdered by someone they knew, probably in a domestic dispute if it wasn't an execution. As a result, Linda and her fiancé are suspects. Gloria continues to express worry about liability issues from not informing Linda of her children's abduction and makes a thoughtless comment about McGinnis not understanding as she has no children. Sharon and Taylor are forced to explain that McGinnis' family died in a car accident, quieting a remorseful Gloria. Fritz draws everyone's attention back to the case and McGinnis promises to wait on the Major Crimes investigation before fully deploying SOB. McGinnis also leaves Lieutenant Cooper and SWAT officers Perez and Stuart at Sharon's disposal by Linda's workplace. McGinnis wants to stay invisible as long as practical, hoping to see the children before Linda sees the police. Sharon decides that she and Tao will help the FBI's investigation into the Lanier's background while the rest of the division will go to Linda Lanier's workplace. Due to Gloria's concerns, Taylor orders Julio and Provenza to allow Sykes and Tao to "lead the charge." Sharon rejects Taylor's desire to release the information on the kidnapping to the media, pointedly telling Taylor that if she didn't have to, she wouldn't have told him about it either. Awhile later, Tao tells Sharon that aside from the Lanier's cat Princess, there is no picture or piece of furniture in the Lanier's home that is older than three years old. Fritz notes that the same is true of the Lanier's finances. Sharon realizes that the two are suggesting that the Lanier's were in fact in the Witness Protection Program. However, Fritz knows that they are not in the FBI's Witness Protection Program. With over 17,000 law enforcement agencies in the United States, Fritz contacts his office in an attempt to figure out where the Lanier's are originally from. Buzz calls Sharon into electronics where he has set up new equipment from SOB that is monitoring their operations to find Linda and her missing fiancé as well as the black Mustang with flame decals that was seen at the crime scene. However, there are no stolen cars in the past couple of days matching that description. Sykes meets with Julio, Provenza, Cooper, Perez, Stuart and Tao and reports that she can't tell if Linda has not yet returned from lunch yet. Sykes has found Linda's car in the parking lot with the engine cold and no sign of blood anywhere, but Linda could've left in a different car. In order to find out information without drawing suspicion, Cooper enters Linda's workplace disguised as a deliveryman with a package that needs to be signed for by either Linda or her fiancé. Cooper learns that Linda has not returned from lunch and is able to get contact information for both Linda and her fiancé who is identified as Christopher Jackson who works as a commodities broker and drives a BMW, not a Mustang. A search done by Tao based on the information obtained from Linda's coworker shows that Linda's fiancé is William Christopher Jackson who has no criminal record. Buzz finds that Jackson drives a BMW Series 7 that is equipped with a lo-jack system. Sharon orders the car reported stolen and the lo-jack activated so that they can track it. Sharon also orders that Buzz print out Jackson's DMV photo so they can distribute it to everyone. Using the BMW's lo-jack system, an LAPD airship is able to locate the car eight miles from Linda's workplace. However, Sharon refuses to move in on the car and risk "burning" it if the killer is watching. While Taylor expresses displeasure at their apparent inaction, McGinnis displays how they currently have the car under surveillance until Cooper can drive his delivery truck across town and double-park it to block the killer's line-of-sight so that they can discreetly search the car. Tao states that they have Jackson's cell phone number and in the next ten minutes, will have a warrant to track the phone. Taylor expresses worry about the kids potentially being in the trunk and argues over their inaction. Fritz and Sharon point out that added together, they can have the phone tracked and the car discreetly searched within seventeen minutes and ask for the chance. Taylor reluctantly gives them twenty minutes to try starting immediately. As they wait for the warrant, Flynn gives directions to Perez and Stuart and Sykes sets up undercover in the park the car is parked next to, searching for any sign of the children, Linda or Jackson. Sharon and McGinnis begin making preparations for when the children are found as well. As the warrant comes in and the FBI begins tracking Jackson's phone, Fritz reports that he hasn't had any luck yet in determining the Lanier's real identities and believes that their best chance is to locate Jackson. Tracking Jackson's phone reveals that he is within twelve feet of his car, but no one can spot him. Furthermore, after getting into a car accident, Cooper is unlikely to be able to reach the car in the time limit imposed by Taylor. As time runs down and everyone tries to find a solution, an ice cream truck passes by the surveillance van giving Julio an idea. In order to block the car and create a distraction, Julio borrows the ice cream truck and double parks it in front of Jackson's car. As Julio distracts everyone nearby with free ice cream, Sykes picks the lock on the trunk only to find Jackson inside, shot in the head and chest. Realizing that the car was left in that particular location for a reason, Sharon orders Jackson's body left in the trunk and for Julio to get back into the surveillance van and for everyone else to hold their positions so as not to alert the killer that they have found Jackson's body. As Julio returns to the van, Sharon remembers that Tao called the Lanier's cat Princess a runaway. Tao confirms that the neighbor had stated that the cat ran away every time she was let out. Sharon realizes that if Princess always ran away, the Lanier's must've always had a way to find her. With no sign of a GPS tag on Princess' collar, Tao guesses that she likely has one implanted behind her shoulder. On Tao's order, Rusty Beck holds Princess for him as Tao retrieves a device from his desk to scan for a GPS chip. Sharon suggests that if Princess was always a runaway and given her age, she likely has two GPS chips: one from before the Lanier's entered Witness Protection and one from after. If so, they can use the old GPS chip to find out who the Lanier's really are. Given the murdered grandparents and fiancé and missing children, Sharon suggests that the killer is the Lanier's son who supposedly died of a brain tumor and that he was the one they testified against. Scanning the cat, Tao is able to find two GPS chips as Sharon figured and runs the numbers on the chips in an effort to find out the names attached to them. Later that day, as the LAPD runs an operation from a parking garage close to where Jackson's car was found, they are confronted by Gloria as they are evacuating people from their homes. Taylor explains that they think their killer is in the southwest corner apartment on the top floor of the adjoining apartment building with his wife and kids. Gloria is surprised as they had been told that the Lanier's son is dead. Sharon and Tao explain that the Lanier's are actually the Collier's as revealed by the address in Boulder, Colorado Princess' GPS tracker had pointed them to. The Collier's son Paul had been released from prison two weeks before after serving six years for embezzling from the family business. Provenza explains that they were able to get a list of Paul's known associates from the warden of the prison Paul served time in. One known associate is Jared Temple who lives in an apartment directly across the street from where they found Jackson's body. Near Jared's apartment, Fritz points out Jared's apartment to Flynn. Fritz explains that Jared had just spent ten years in prison on meth possession and armed robbery charges. Most of that time was as Paul Collier's cellmate. While Jared doesn't own a Mustang, he could've borrowed one as Jared works for his uncle who is a mechanic and owns his own garage. While they don't know if Jared or Paul are in the apartment with the kids and Linda, they have to finish clearing out the building before they can check. They are to sit on the apartment until it can be confirmed who is inside and SIS can mass on the apartment. Sharon explains to Gloria that they only have two options in such a situation: hostage negotiation or a rescue operation. Gloria is disgruntled by the fact that they plan to lead a rescue mission with SWAT so McGinnis asks Doctor Joe Bowman for his opinion on whether they should try to negotiate with Paul or try to rescue the hostages by taking him by surprise. Doctor Joe points out Paul's years in prison to plan revenge, his ability to gain an accomplice and the fact that he has so far succeeded in everything he seems to have planned. Doctor Joe states that he is also worried that Paul appears to have no exit strategy which a worrying sign. Based on Doctor Joe's assessment, Sharon and Provenza decide to proceed with a rescue mission and order McGinnis to prepare her snipers. Sharon assures Gloria that the snipers will be firing non-lethal rounds as a distraction and while the apartment is on the top floor, they have SOB's airships to counter that. While everyone else prepares to move on the apartment, Cooper and Julio are sent to search for the Mustang. During the search, Julio finds Leggo blocks that he recognizes Henry Collier as having dumped into his pocket before the kidnapping as seen in the video his grandfather had recorded. Near the blocks, Julio and Cooper find a Camaro that matches the description of the suspect car and realize that the witness got the type of car wrong. On the car's seats are more blocks, proving that the children had been there. Julio and Cooper are unable to raise the others due to being too far underground nor can Buzz see them on their cameras so Julio heads off to find a signal, leaving Cooper alone with the car. Shortly after Julio leaves, Cooper is confronted by Jared Temple. As Cooper tries to lie about his reason for being there, Jared draws a gun and recognizing that Cooper is a cop, threatens to kill him. Hearing the confrontation, Julio returns, but chooses to tackle Jared rather than shoot him. As the two men struggle on the ground, Jared's gun goes off several times, drawing the attention of the LAPD officers nearby who are unable to raise Julio or Cooper on the radio. The gunshots also cause Paul to emerge from Jared's apartment where he spots Sykes, Flynn, Fritz, Perez and Stuart and races back inside. With screaming coming from the apartment, Flynn realizes that they don't have time to wait for SIS and McGinnis orders her people in over Sharon's objections, stating that Sharon put Fritz on the team in the hallway for a reason. As McGinnis orders her airships in, Sharon orders Flynn to listen to Fritz who knows how to handle the situation. Fritz and Flynn briefly argue over who will go in with Perez and Stuart before Fritz tells Flynn that he's "the right person to do what has to be done here" for a lot of reasons. As Fritz, Perez and Stuart move in, Flynn and Sykes move to protect the people in the nearby apartments who haven't yet been evacuated. At the same time, Cooper and Julio capture Jared who warns them that if they don't let him go, people are going to die. As Julio demands to know where the kids are, he suddenly notices that he's bleeding from a wound on his side. As Julio collapses, Cooper knocks Jared unconscious and handcuffs him to one of the rims on his car. As the airships approach, Fritz orders Perez and Stuart to keep Paul away from his hostages and to let Fritz handle the rest. While they don't have backup, they will have a pretty good distraction. Hearing the airships coming, Fritz has Stuart knock on the door before identifying himself as an FBI agent and calling for a surrender, causing Paul to shoot at them through the door. As Paul is focused on Fritz's team, two airships come up outside and snipers fire non-lethal rounds through the windows, allowing Perez and Stuart to enter and rescue Linda and Henry. Holding his daughter as a human shield, Paul fires at the officers with a machine gun, hitting Stuart. As Paul is distracted by the two SWAT officers, Fritz enters the room and shoots Paul through the head at point-blank range as Paul turns to face him, killing Paul. With Paul dead, Fritz is able to take Mandy while Stuart is unharmed due to his body armor. As the family is escorted to safety, Cooper emerges from the parking garage with an unconscious Julio and calls for help. In the aftermath, the kids are determined to be physically okay. Linda Collier may need surgery, but she will recover also. Julio's wound from Jared Temple is determined to be superficial and he will be fine. Guest Cast *Steve Roussell (Tactical Flight Officer) *David Atkinson (Paul Collier) *Nicole Surels (Julie Collier) *Thomas James Robbie (Henry Collier) *Rachel Rodier (Mandy Collier) *Joseph Buttler (Irate Driver) *Adrian Moreira-Behrens (Teenage Boy) *Claudia Dimartino (Elderly Person) *Chuck Tamburro (Pilot #1) *John Tamburro (Pilot #2) Recurring *Malcolm-Jamal Warner (SIS Lieutenant Chuck Cooper) *Bill Brochtrup (Doctor Joe Bowman) Locations Episode Notes *This episode is stated to take place a week after the events of . *According to the Missing Person's flyer, the date is July 21, 2014. *The title comes from Sharon's line to Gloria Lim that they have only two options: hostage negotiation or a rescue operation. *Near the beginning of the episode, Sharon places the photo of Alice Herrera from on the murder board surrounded by a box reading Hold. The picture remains there in the background until when Rusty Beck identifies Alice at which point its removed from the murder board. Fritz Howard *During the investigation, Assistant Chief Taylor brings up the idea of Fritz becoming the new Deputy Chief in charge of the Special Operations Bureau. According to Taylor, Fritz has been in the FBI for twenty-seven years and can easily retire with full benefits to begin a second career. *Though Taylor makes the offer, Fritz is unsure as Brenda has been offered a great new job in Washington, D.C. Julio Sanchez *Julio is wounded in this episode subduing a suspect. He recovers, but at the beginning of the next episode is mentioned to still be out of work from his injury. Rusty Beck *Near the beginning of the episode, Rusty approaches Sharon to sign off on him doing twenty hours of community service for the LAPD which he believes he has done through his undercover operation to catch Wade Weller. *Due to the fact that Rusty's hours must be completed during the summer, Sharon sets him to work sorting the thousands of missing persons' photos from the Alice Herrera murder investigation. *At the end of the episode, seeing all of the missing girls causes Rusty to agree to Sharon's offer to adopt him. Goofs *The episode's end credits list a character named Julie Collier, presumably the mother of the missing children. However, in the episode her name is given as Linda. While her name could've been changed due to her being in Witness Protection, even after the family's true identity is discovered, the murder board shows all of their first names as being the same as from before they changed identities though Linda's picture is hidden in camera shots of the revised murder board. Trivia Episode Media Category:Major Crimes Category:MC Season 3 Category:Episodes Category:Special Operations Bureau Category:Special Investigation Section